Overwhelmed U.S. Border Patrol agents are running out of space to handle the historic number of migrants who have flooded the U.S. southern border in recent days.
That means new migrants arriving will have to wait for days in an open field serving as a temporary shelter in Eagle Pass, Texas.
“They have reached capacity; there is no more room,” a Border Patrol source told DailyMail.com.
Among the adults are children who are seen in shocking new footage fainting and being put in the back of an ambulance.
The migrants, mostly asylum seekers from South America who entered the U.S. illegally, have already spent days in a grassy reservoir in Eagle Pass.
It comes after US apprehensions of migrants at the border hit a new record on Monday, with at least 12,600 encounters over a period of just 24 hours.
The stunning spike comes as U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced it would suspend rail operations at a few international border crossings, including Eagle Pass.
Several migrants became ill after waiting hours, sometimes days, at an open-air Border Patrol station in Eagle Pass
Nearly 10,000 migrants entered Eagle Pass, Texas, in an 82-hour period, the Border Patrol confirmed
On Wednesday, the number of migrants waiting to be processed by Border Patrol in Eagle Pass began to decrease
As of Sunday, the city of 28,00 residents saw a huge surge: 9,957 migrants entered the city in just 82 hours, according to the US Border Patrol.
“This crisis has gotten way out of control,” local Congressman Tony Gonzales said Wednesday in Eagle Pass.
“We are at the point of no return.”
Shocking video From the processing center in Eagle Pass, an overrun building meant to house 1,000 migrants can be seen, packed with 6,000 people, Gonzales said.
“That's just one of the waiting areas,” another officer explained.
“There's a whole cage in the back with grass mats that can hold about a thousand people. They're being squeezed in like sardines.'
The agency in charge of border security normally engages in something called 'lateral decompression' to help a congested area of the border.
Agents in the busy sector will take migrants by bus or plane to less busy parts of the border, where the migrants can be screened — what the department calls “processing.”
One migrant woman was taken away on a stretcher by Border Patrol agents after needing medical care
That's when immigrants who enter the U.S. without papers are subject to background checks.
Anyone with a criminal hit will be deported and turned over to the proper authorities.
Those undocumented have their biometric data collected and Border Patrol records their illegal entry, a federal crime.
Agents then start deporting them.
Since 2021, many illegal border crossers have applied for asylum during this period.
By law, the U.S. Border Patrol must stop deportations if someone says they are afraid to return to their country.
Those who meet the initial asylum threshold are given a court date, often years later, and are legally released into the country.
Currently, the Border Police has made maximum use of the processing space.
Earlier this week, migrants were sent to all corners of the southern border, to places like El Paso – where there is a facility specifically designed for flooding.
The migrant camp, located between the city's two international bridges, was shown off Wednesday morning in Eagle Pass, Texas
Local Congressman Tony Gonzales held a press conference just feet from where migrants are being held to explain how the border crisis has affected his constituents
One migrant who became ill was taken away by ambulance
With such a large wave, asylum seekers were also sent to remote areas on the border, such as Sanderson and Comstock, Texas.
This small Border Patrol outpost rarely sees much action, but agents in Eagle Pass are desperately trying to keep the line of endless migrants arriving at the border moving.
However, that has all stopped now, as even those overflow options are maxed out.
“They are trying to send them to nearby stations but they are all taking off because they are also running out of capacity,” another officer noted.
'Migrants stay under the bridge until they find space.'
The wait has pushed some migrants to the brink.
Within an hour, DailyMail.com witnessed two men fainting and officers rushing to give them medical attention.
The sick migrants were carried out of the line, hundreds of people long, and carried along a small embankment to a waiting stretcher.
About 1,000 migrants waited to be processed at a U.S. Border Patrol processing center Wednesday after crossing the border from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Dec. 20, 2023
An aerial view of immigrants walking toward a U.S. Border Patrol processing center after wading through the Rio Grande from Mexico early December 20
Viewed from the air, Texas National Guard troops monitor as immigrants change into dry clothes after wading through the Rio Grande from Mexico early Dec. 20, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas
The federal government has a medical tent ready a few meters away.
After examination by medical staff, one man was taken away in an ambulance.
“Many of these people have been waiting here for days…days to be processed, and on the Mexican side there are thousands, tens of thousands,” the Republican congressman explained.
'They get a wristband and are put in line. While they are in line, they are served bean and cheese tacos so they have something to eat along the way.”
Migrants may leave the line at their discretion to use the porta potties and drink water.
The migrants are given silver thermal blankets to keep warm at night.
The city services are suffering from the pressure of the influx.
“The hospital has run out of beds, and the other thing is we have a shortage of medical staff,” said City Manager Ivan Morua, adding that wait times at one Eagle Pass hospital are four to five hours.
“Sometimes we send an ambulance and if the injuries are not life-threatening, we don't transport them to the hospital.”
Officials predicted they have not seen the last of the migrants in this wave, while Mexican officials say they see thousands more moving north.